It’s peak summer in Jackson – and tourists aren’t the only ones roaming the streets. Beth Hawkins sits atop her mule in front of the elk antler arch on the northeast corner of the town square.
She explains to a young visitor from South Carolina who asks to pet her donkey, that Emma, on whose back she sits six feet high, is a mule.
Hawkins is a decades-long Teton County resident and a first-year volunteer for the mounted patrol. She says her mule Emma is primarily accustomed to trails, NOT the bustling town square.
“You just don’t know what you’re going to see. You can guess at some of the things, motorcycles, people whizzing past you on a bike, you know, people being loud, boisterous, having fun,” said Hawkins.
But for Emma, it’s kids with balloons that have been one of the biggest surprises.
“The long, skinny balloons that are twisted into shapes and kids kind of holding them out like a sword. and, you know, the balloons flopping all over the place,” explained Hawkins.
Many communities throughout the United States – and the world – have mounted police – officers on horses, or mules — but Jackson is one of just a handful of communities with a primarily volunteer patrol.
The volunteers in the saddle aren’t sworn peace officers, so they can’t make arrests. Their role is to be ambassadors to the community.
Beth Hawkins and her mule are “rookie” members of the Jackson Mounted Patrol. (Emily Cohen/KHOL)
Police Lieutenant Russ Ruschill said the way to tell the difference between a volunteer and a sworn officer on horseback is by the color of their shirt.
“If you see a mounted officer downtown wearing a white shirt, that means that they’re a volunteer. If you see a mounted officer downtown and they’re wearing a blue shirt, that means that they are sworn police officer who is a member of the department,” Ruschill said.
Lieutenant Russ Ruschill started in 2000 as a volunteer with the unit and became a sworn police officer three years later. He is now second in command in the Jackson Police Department and trains the 32-member mounted patrol.
He said that the volunteer mounted patrol, and their equine companions, are a way to build bridges between the community and the police.
“I’ve been a police officer for almost 22 years. In those 22 years, no one has ever asked to pet my police car. But thousands of people have petted my police horse,” Ruschill said. “Think about the relationship in America right now between the police and the communities that we police. You know, it’s not been good the last few years, right? People don’t like it when the cop car gets behind them because they automatically think, ‘Oh, they’re out to get me. What did I do in traffic?’ You know, it’s the never-ending cycle of ‘I’m in trouble.’”
Jackson’s mounted police unit first started in 1986, as a way to bring the “western experience” to downtown. Ruschill said that that spirit remains true today.
But it’s getting harder to keep the volunteer patrol around. Not only are the volunteers aging but the ability to board a horse in the region is becoming increasingly challenging.
“The same challenges that everybody faces, we face in our unit, such as affordable housing. And when you add the dynamic of having horses on your property in Jackson, it magnifies and multiplies.”
Ruschill says that police should be part of the community that they serve. Living in that community – and having conversations with the community benefits everyone. And horses – and mules – are a great icebreaker for those conversations.
For Hawkins, it’s also a win personally. She describes the mounted patrol as the best volunteer job ever.
Jackson’s mounted patrol can be seen in the town square and at events and parades throughout the summer.
You can learn more about Jackson’s iconic mounted patrollers in last week’s episode of Jackson Unpacked, available on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
